Giant Python Captures Thai Woman in Kitchen, Squeezes Her for Two Hours

A 64-year-old woman in her home near Bangkok was getting ready to wash her evening dishes when she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her thigh. Looking down, she was shocked to see a large python gripping her.

“When I Looked I Saw The Snake Wrapping Around Me”

“I was about to scoop some water and when I sat down it bit me immediately. When I looked I saw the snake wrapping around me,” Arom Arunroj told Thailand’s Thairath newspaper. The four-to-five-meter (13-to-16-foot) python wrapped itself around her torso, tightening its grip and forcing her down to the kitchen floor.

“I grabbed it by the head, but it wouldn’t release me. It only tightened,” the woman said.

Pythons are non-venomous constrictors that kill their prey by gradually squeezing the breath out of them.

The woman cried for help, leaning against her kitchen door, however, it took a neighbor walking by an hour and a half later to hear her screams and alert authorities.

Responding officer Anusorn Wongmalee told The Associated Press that when he arrived, the woman was still leaning against her door, looking pale and exhausted, with the snake wrapped around her.

Police and animal control officers used a crowbar to strike the snake on the head, forcing it to release its grip and slither away before they could capture it.

Spent About Two Hours Before Rescue

In total, Arom spent about two hours on Tuesday night in the python’s grip before being freed. She received treatment for several bites but appeared otherwise unharmed in videos speaking to Thai media shortly after the incident.

Encounters with snakes are common in Thailand, where government statistics reveal that 26 people were killed by venomous snake bites last year. In 2023, a total of 12,000 individuals received treatment for bites from venomous snakes and other animals.

The reticulated python is the largest snake in Thailand, typically ranging from 1.5 to 6.5 meters (5 to 21 feet) in length and weighing up to 75 kilograms (165 pounds). They have been recorded at lengths of up to 10 meters (33 feet) and weights of 130 kilograms (287 pounds).

Smaller pythons typically feed on small mammals like rats, while larger ones target prey such as pigs, deer, and even domestic dogs and cats. Although attacks on humans are rare, they do occur occasionally.

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